The Iliad

Product Details

The great war epic of Western literature, in a stunning translation by acclaimed classicist Robert Fagles

Dating to the ninth century B.C., Homer’s timeless poem still vividly conveys the horror and heroism of men and gods wrestling with towering emotions and battling amidst devastation and destruction, as it moves inexorably to the wrenching, tragic conclusion of the Trojan War. Renowned classicist Bernard Knox observes in his superb introduction that although the violence of theIliad is grim and relentless, it coexists with both images of civilized life and a poignant yearning for peace.

Combining the skills of a poet and scholar, Robert Fagles brings the energy of contemporary language to this enduring heroic epic. He maintains the drive and metric music of Homer’s poetry, and evokes the impact and nuance of the Iliad’s mesmerizing repeated phrases in what Peter Levi calls “an astonishing performance.”

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

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Reviews

Rated 5 out of
5 by
Coreena_McBurnie from
Amazing!!!I have to start by saying that I absolutely LOVE The Iliad. I have a passion for Greek mythology and studied Classics in university and Homer is definitely one of my favorites. I recently took on a challenge to read Homer's Iliad. I realized that it must be nearly 20 years since I read it in university, so decided it would be fun to read it again, this time without the pressure of essays and exams. I don't feel that a traditional book review is something I could write about this epic novel, so I will write about some of my favourite things and impressions. First off, I had to pick a translation - there are so many to choose from! After looking through about 15 boxes of books that I have in storage to find my old Lattimore translation, I decided to go to our local used bookstore and buy the Robert Fagles translation. I was skeptical at first because I had loved the Lattimore translation, but I quickly found that the Fagles translation was amazing too - it is a poetry translation, but is also very readable and has a great feel to it. I would highly recommend this one to anyone wanting to read The Iliad, especially if they are looking for a modern poetry translation. It won the Academy of American Poets 1991 Landon Translation Award and I can see why. And then there is the story itself, it takes place over a few days near the end of the Trojan War, and is about Achilles' rage at Agamemnon for his slight to his honour. The first lines tell it all: Rage - Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus' son Achilles, murderous, doomed, that cost the Achaeans countless losses, hurling down to the House of Death so many sturdy souls, great fighters' souls, but made their bodies carrion, feasts for the dogs and birds, and the will of Zeus was moving toward its end. Begin, Muse, when the two first broke and clashed, Agamemnon lord of men and brilliant Achilles. I found The Iliad interesting and exiting to read, though it did take a lot of concentration. This is a story that was originally intended to be recited aloud, so reading it uses a different part of the brain (I think - or, at least for me). There are certainly different devises used than in modern writing, such as repetitive epithets. For the most part, I found if I took my time and was not distracted (too much), I could read through it fairly easily. But, the exception to this is Book 2, the catalog of ships. Here Homer lists all of the ships and heroes who have come to Troy from around Greece. This is very long and tedious to read, but if you can make it through that, the rest of the books should seem easy! The other thing that was a bit hard with The Iliad is the lists of people fighting and how they died. This is a story that takes place in a war and there are lots of battle scenes with grizzly deaths. One of the really fun aspects of the book is the gods meddling in human affairs. Some of this was quite funny and a welcome relief to the battle scenes. Then there is the human element of The Iliad, the stories that make the book what it is, such as Andromache worried about her husband coming home from battle, the friendship of Achilles and Patroclus, Menalaus fighting to get his wife, Helen, back from Paris, Achilles' rage at Agamemnon for being slighted, and Priam doing whatever it takes to get his dead son's body back for burial. It is always amazing to me that Priam, after watching his son's body get defiled for days by Achilles, the man who killed him in battle, can go to him as a suppliant, and even feast with him. It is absolutely heart wrenching. This is only one of the incredibly touching and human scenes in The Iliad.

Date published: 2011-06-08

Rated 5 out of
5 by
Matthew_Minckler from
A great war epicThis is a great book for anybody who is interested in greek history/mythology. As a fan of greco-roman themes I have watched many movies about the Trojan war, so it was interesting to finally read what is the basis for those films. It was interesting to see how dramatically different the movies are from the source material. The book ends before the sacking of Troy but to get answers from Homer read "The Odyssey" as it gives a few answers to what happened to some of the characters. This is one of my favourite books!!

Date published: 2008-01-28

Rated 1 out of
5 by
Anonymous from
Trojans Gone Wild!hated this book. For one, I'm not overly interested in war stories or movies or whatnot. It isn't my cup of tea. For another, the language was difficult to follow. I found it funny that the real people attributed so much to the gods and goddesses... "Oh I lost that race because Aphrodite made me slip in the ox blood..." "Apollo saved me from your spear!" yada yada yada I don't know what the title means, not being familiar with Latin I wonder if it's a different form of Ilios or something? I wish it was called "All About Achilles" or even "How the Trojan War was Won" or even "Trojans gone wild!" I could have done without the descriptions of all the different ways that people were killed. It's a war, and people die, I get it, however I don't need to read how their eyes fell out when they were it with a rock (anatomically impossible, their being attached to optical nerves. They would just dangle) I was disappointed, because I thought there would be more of those traditional stories you hear about, like how Achilles was dipped in the Styx, or how awesome Helen was to make so many people fight over her or something. Nope, just straight up battles and funeral games and stuff.

Date published: 2006-07-27

Rated 4 out of
5 by
Ian_Fitzgerald from
Amazing bookAlthough a hard read, I found The Iliad to be an amazing book that really fueled me. I could actually invision the gods and the warriors at battle. I was taken right in. And it provs to be a much better version of the Trojan War than the movie Troy which destroys Homer's original tale! Read this rather than watch that!

Date published: 2006-06-24

Rated 5 out of
5 by
Samantha from
AmazingThis book was great. Was hard but easy at the same time. Homer is a amzing writer and would suggest this book to anyone wanting to read something new!

Date published: 2005-06-22

Rated 5 out of
5 by
Samantha from
Amazingthis book is very very good. By page 20 I was hooked. This verson of the Iliad isn't that hard espically if you are someone who reads a lot. I would recomen this book to anyone how already likes poetry, getting into poetry or has never read poetry in there lifes.

Date published: 2005-06-16

Rated 4 out of
5 by
Diana_Mao from
Great ReadI picked this book up to read for school. I expected it to be a boring but it was a fantastic book filled with similes and imagery. It's was like going to the movies since the book goes in depth about the taste, the sounds, and the action. It felt as if the reader was at the Trojan war.

Date published: 2005-02-06

Rated 5 out of
5 by
homer's_fan from
excellentover all the translation is excellent, except on the translation uses latin name for the character, instead of greek name

Date published: 2004-12-22

Rated 1 out of
5 by
Miryam from
The IliadBecause this book is not in modern english, it took me hour just to read the first 100 pages. I could not stay awake for the life of me.

Date published: 2004-11-10

Rated 5 out of
5 by
Daniel from
Universal Required ReadingHomer's first epic poem displays the range of human emotions and vices from bravery to jealousy and envy in a wonderfully narrated tale. This ancient work should be required reading for all of humanity.

Date published: 2003-07-20

Rated 5 out of
5 by
Allan_Vuong from
All Hail, HOMERThere is nothing that compares to the artistic delivery of such a respected author. Homer paints the story with such passion and power that includes the reader as either a Trojan Warrior or a Greek Soldier! Excellent!

Date published: 2000-01-28

– More About This Product –

The Iliad

by Robert HomerTranslated by Robert FaglesIntroduction by Bernard Knox

Book 1: The Rage of AchillesBook 2: The Great Gathering of ArmiesBook 3: Helen Reviews the ChampionsBook 4: The Truce Erupts in WarBook 5: Diomedes Fights the GodsBook 6: Hector Returns to TroyBook 7: Ajax Duels with HectorBook 8: The Tide of Battle TurnsBook 9: The Embassy to AchillesBook 10: Marauding Through the NightBook 11: Agamemnon's Day of GloryBook 12: The Trojans Storm the RampartBook 13: Battling for the ShipsBook 14: Hera Outflanks ZeusBook 15: The Achaean Armies at BayBook 16: Patroclus Fights and DiesBook 17: Menelaus' Finest HourBook 18: The Shield of AchillesBook 19: The Champion Arms for BattleBook 20: Olympian Gods in ArmsBook 21: Achilles Fights the RiverBook 22: The Death of HectorBook 23: Funeral Games for PatroclusBook 24: Achilles and Priam

Notes

The Genealogy of the Royal House of TroyTextual Variants from the Oxford Classical TextNotes on the TranslationSuggestions for Further ReadingPronouncing Glossary

From the Publisher

The great war epic of Western literature, in a stunning translation by acclaimed classicist Robert Fagles

Dating to the ninth century B.C., Homer’s timeless poem still vividly conveys the horror and heroism of men and gods wrestling with towering emotions and battling amidst devastation and destruction, as it moves inexorably to the wrenching, tragic conclusion of the Trojan War. Renowned classicist Bernard Knox observes in his superb introduction that although the violence of theIliad is grim and relentless, it coexists with both images of civilized life and a poignant yearning for peace.

Combining the skills of a poet and scholar, Robert Fagles brings the energy of contemporary language to this enduring heroic epic. He maintains the drive and metric music of Homer’s poetry, and evokes the impact and nuance of the Iliad’s mesmerizing repeated phrases in what Peter Levi calls “an astonishing performance.”

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

About the Author

Homer was probably born around 725BC on the Coast of Asia Minor, now the coast of Turkey, but then really a part of Greece. Homer was the first Greek writer whose work survives.He was one of a long line of bards, or poets, who worked in the oral tradition. Homer and other bards of the time could recite, or chant, long epic poems. Both works attributed to Homer – the Iliad and the Odyssey – are over ten thousand lines long in the original. Homer must have had an amazing memory but was helped by the formulaic poetry style of the time. In the IliadHomer sang of death and glory, of a few days in the struggle between the Greeks and the Trojans. Mortal men played out their fate under the gaze of the gods. The Odyssey is the original collection of tall traveller’s tales. Odysseus, on his way home from the Trojan War, encounters all kinds of marvels from one-eyed giants to witches and beautiful temptresses. His adventures are many and memorable before he gets back to Ithaca and his faithful wife Penelope.We can never be certain that both these stories belonged to Homer. In fact ‘Homer’ may not be a real name but a kind of nickname meaning perhaps ‘the hostage’ or ‘the blind one’. Whatever the truth of their origin, the two stories, developed around three thousand years ago, may well still be read in three thousand years’ time.Robert Fagles (1933-2008) was Arthur W. Marks ’19 Professor of Comparative Literature, Emeritus, at Princeton University. He was the recipient of the 1997 PEN/R

From Our Editors

One of the best available English versions of Homer's epic poem, Robert Fagles' verse translation of The Iliad is widely praised by scholars and poets alike. Bringing a distinctly literary sensibility to bear on the text, Fagles preserves the subtle cadences and metrical music of Homeric verse. Ideal for students, scholars and general readers, this edition can be read either as a precursor to The Odyssey or on its own.

Editorial Reviews

“Fitzgerald has solved virtually every problem that has plagued translators of Homer. The narrative runs, the dialogue speaks, the military action is clear, and the repetitive epithets become useful text rather than exotic relics.” –Atlantic Monthly

“Fitzgerald’s swift rhythms, bright images, and superb English make Homer live as never before…This is for every reader in our time and possibly for all time.”–Library Journal

“[Fitzgerald’s Odyssey and Iliad] open up once more the unique greatness of Homer’s art at the level above the formula; yet at the same time they do not neglect the brilliant texture of Homeric verse at the level of the line and the phrase.” –The Yale Review

“What an age can read in Homer, what its translators can manage to say in his presence, is one gauge of its morale, one index to its system of exultations and reticences. The supple, the iridescent, the ironic, these modes are among our strengths, and among Mr. Fitzgerald’s.” –National Review